The Currency Cold War

Cash and Cryptography, Hash Rates and Hegemony

By: David Birch

Narrated by: James Barlow

Money is changing and this may mean a new world order. David Birch sets out the economic and technological imperatives concerning digital money, discussing the potential impact of it and the tensions involved - between public and private and between East and West - to contribute to the high-level debate that we must have to begin to shape the International Monetary and Financial System of the near future.

©2020 David Birch (P)2020 London Publishing Partnership

Thought-provoking on what money might be

I don't agree with everything the author says or projects, but I credit this work with stirring plenty of thought. Some of this is bound to come true. When I read a book, I am in effect paying someone to have done a ton of involved learning and thinking, and made it understandable. I feel well rewarded here. The narration was terrific too. I wish the author would publish some of his other works in this format.

Has potential but devolved into an anti-Bitcoin manifesto

I enjoyed the first chapter. The rest of the book is a bunch of electronic banking history mixed with anti-Bitcoin diatribes. It’s unfortunate, because this book seems like it had potential to make a dry topic interesting if it had taken a more objective approach.

Regarding the audio performance, they do something weird at chapter breaks and other places with the audio effects, like they just discovered them on the sound board for the first time, and it’s quite annoying. Otherwise most of the vocals are fine.